I still have few backlogs to date but I feel hollow since my most recent luscious entry, it must be the age that’s making me feels busted easily.

I want a good dinner later, probably with some greens and white meat. What can you suggest? I want some pasta and pizza too. Oh my, I need to decide before husband arrives otherwise he would suggest a frequent eatery again 😦 .

Tomorrow will be a good day and I have to start it early. At last, I would be seeing Bea and I can’t wait to give her a big hug. Momi misses you so much bunso! Then, I have set activities for her, well for the three of us. I can’t express how excited I am right now.

I am seeing Sunday to be big and busy day and I will join up my maternal family marked someone’s birthday this time. I could only think of food and fun which would be boundless for everyone this day.

I slightly crave on pasta after the unpleasant incident on Sunday dinner and to put an end to that hunger I have to gorge on something sweet, something delectable certainly.

Husband and I walked towards Greenbelt 5, this time I know I cannot be wrong as I’ve been to this place beforehand several times and their sweets never failed so far, every visit to this cake shop is immaculately an indulgence.

At Classic Confections you get what you pay for, it’s always!

It’s because husband had his coffee earlier at a nearby coffee house (it is where we had dinner) we decided to order a cake only.

Every visit I have to order it over and over again -one of my favorites is their best selling Nono’s Chocolate Oblivion.

I can’t find the exact words how good it was, it’s rich, dark but not too sweet, creamy and crunchy outside -truly perfect to satisfy my very sweet tooth.

I promise myself this would be our Christmas cake this year! 🙂

P.S.I didn’t hear any comment from husband because he loves it more than I do…

We went our way to Binan on Sunday afternoon to give our last respect to my dear friend’s father, who passed away last Friday. Close friends P and GP were also there and it was a mini get-together. I had wish we could stay longer however husband and I had already set a previous engagement + we needed to check the mall for some accessories which husband would be needing on his evaluation class.

We opt for Greenbelt 5 which has an access to The Landmark and would be comfortable and distant to our final stopover –the Old Manila Coffee House.

I don’t know anything about this quaint resto until it was offered at MetroDeal. Since I have more than 1000 credits available I am in the look out of a good deal from time to time. The offer was at 50%: P149 instead of P300 worth of Delicious and Mouthwatering Food and Drinks –considering this, I grab 2 vouchers. With its existing two locations, I picked the one in Makati which is well located at Prince Plaza. As always before our scheduled visit, I back read reviews and peeped on their menu at munchpunch.

They serve breakfast as early as 6:30am and famous was their Beef Tapa. Lunch and Dinner offerings include dishes such as Sinigang na Tiyan ng Bangus, Kare-Kare and Chicken Pork Adobo to name a few. They also have pasta and sandwiches. Despite the vouchers 6-months validity I wanted to make use of it right away to shun any unpleasant happening later on.

The date,

Soon as we stepped inside the resto we were welcomed right away and was seated at the couch, however I feel uneasy especially if dinner would be served at this corner.

Though I have to assent that the setting is homey and welcoming –fixtures are all made in wood creating an old feel. I have to request the wait staff to transfer us to a regular table where I could fully enjoy our dinner.

Christmas was all over the place…

We never had a hard time placing our orders as we both wanted to eat rice paired with meat dishes. The initial order was T-Bone Steaks but it wasn’t available so we decided for this set.

Inihaw na Liempo P175. Pan-grilled, marinated pork belly with pickled papaya. Pork belly is supposed to be tender but Old Manila failed and I don’t believe at all that it was marinated, it was tasteless and pickled papaya is absent. 😦

Old Manila Kare-Kare P255. Stewed in peanut sauce and served with shrimp veggies. Their version is different from the usual because the veggies are not mixed, it was a like a topping style. Anyway, I thought it was good at first bite because I immediately taste peanut however, I later on realized that it was no good because I was expecting a creamy and saucy dish. Apart from it, the dish was cold, and the attempt to re-heat it wasn’t successful at all.

Steamed Rice is P30.

I was ordering soda, Coke to be exact but it wasn’t on the menu book so I asked the wait staff it they have SODA and she was uncertain when she said, “wala po”. That was okay, so I got an OJ instead.

Orange Juice P85

Because I was really hungry it didn’t took very long for us to eat dinner. And I can sense husband didn’t enjoy the dishes we devoured right away. On my case, I feel short so I browse the menu for the second time and ask for Alfredo Fettuccine but then again, it wasn’t available. I wonder what ingredient is so hard to stock for a pasta dish.

And yes, I got exactly what was described. The smell of it was so delicious; I can tell it was freshly cooked. Even the plating was impressive this time.

As I begin to mix the sauce all over the pasta, I noticed something on it. I am very sure it was not part of the pasta dish. Husband immediately called the wait staff and pointed “that black thing” on our pasta. My irritation came up when she said, “ay paminta po yan”. Hello! I am very sure it’s not; you see there are teeny legs! It’s a baby cockroach for your information, if you haven’t seen one. I was shaking, almost ready to explode but I don’t want to make a scene. I hand back the plate considerately and ask to cancel the order despite the offer to replace my order. The wait staff was even trying to explain that maybe it flies from somewhere else. Oh I don’t really care where it came from, I am sure it’s from your kitchen! And when things like this happen, you think it’s so easy to accept that it’s a normal thing. A big no of course! Now, if you asked me for photos, I didn’t make an effort. I don’t want this idea to damage the establishment. Ours maybe a single incident but it was something that should be seriously look into by management of Old Manila Coffee House. And I wish your wait staffs could be well-trained, we deserved at least a decent apology. 😦

I allowed husband to finish his Café Mocha despite my inkling to get out of the place at once.

Café Mocha P95 was nothing but lukewarm, I think they need a barista to improve design on coffee drinks, after all coffee should be their specialty.

After paying another P137 aside from the P600 worth of voucher I handed them, we left. It wasn’t an impressive experience to account.

P.S.Furthermore to the unpleasant dinner these are the things I observe and wanted to highlight.

When I was told that there’s no SODA, I believe it however the funny thing is the owner and the rest of her family and friends (?) were drinking COKE at dinnertime and they were just seated next to us. I guess the wait staff didn’t know at all that what I meant when I asked for SODA was softdrinks.

I thought I entered a family house when we stepped in at Old Manila Coffee House, the conversations were too loud, and a table was occupied because they were repacking coffee beans, there were dogs barking. Yes, there were toy dogs inside probably by the owner. I should be happy at least that the resto is pet friendly nevertheless I find it bothersome to some guests who wanted a peace and quiet place to have coffee and dessert.

I wonder who supply cakes for them because a slice is pricey compared to Starbucks.

Lastly, I don’t exactly know how new this resto is to fail customer service 101. And sadly because it does not succeed in creating a unique feel I cannot recommend it to anyone.

The recent BPI Big Outlet and Travel Sale was dry as I recall it and this is the first time we left the sale without a single purchase. Let me go through a little detailed,

Giordano Ladies and Bluestar had old stocks, been seeing those polo t-shirts every now and then +prices of Giordano Ladies tops were so OA. Imagine a knitted top priced at P6,500 down to P2,500++ yet still the piece is so expensive.

Nike Golf had very few pieces on sale, bags are old stock too as you can see dirt on it.

Ipanema had pieces at P400 only but sizes were so small and limited.

Levi’s had lesser items and high-priced. I remember husband would normally pay only P1,500 or P1,600 on a pair of jeans however this time the prices were at P1,800++

I was surprised to see Apt 8 this time and I was eyeing this Olive Oyl long top however I got disappointed when I asked the price, at P380 I find it steep and I bet it’s sold at P250 only in their 168 Mall branch.

I was not a big fan of Melissa shoes the reason why I did not enjoy the line up despite its discounted rate.

At Devant, I thought we had a good deal considering that a 40-inches LCD TV is at P23,000 only from its tag price of P30,000 and a 42-inches at P28,000 from P33,000 (?) however when I called my Nanay it seems it was the existent cost because at SM Appliance Center it cost at P30,000 but the unit was bundled with speaker and player. I get back to the sales agent telling him about it and he told us that he would give us a good deal if we can visit the exhibit at Trinoma. He even called a colleague at Western Appliance who’s willing to match SM’s price. So, how is that? Well, we are not in the rush to take home the LCD TV so we left without feeling any regret because we’re not getting a super sale after all.

Talk about the Travel Sale, Hotel Elizabeth in Baguio offers Advance Purchase Promo at P1,000 only per pax on twin sharing per room night –such a steal however there is a proviso that there is a minimum 5 room nights per purchase. For somebody like me who normally visits Baguio once a year (or not at all) on a three day basis only this deal isn’t practical in any way.

Really I was expecting that prices this time would be much lower compared to previous Big Outlet after seeing its circular that this time it’s up to 90% off but I have to conclude that everything is overpriced.

I didn’t go home feeling sick because I didn’t get any this time; I was saved by this delicious and cheesy serving of beef and eggplant lasagna from Inn Café. P95 single serve comes with a slice of buttered bread and fruit juice.

Now, I am thinking of getting a whole pan for the holidays as party and get-togethers will be plentiful then.

On a second note, I wish the organizers of the Big Outlet Sale would bring back brands like Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, Sanuk, Crocs and Stella Luna.

We didn’t drive home right away because it was still early, husband and I were thinking of McKinley but eventually settle in Boni High.

I thought it would nice to wander other than sitting at a coffee shop however the crowd was overwhelming.

Apart from it was the thought of missing my baby because she loves this place though I am not so certain if she would be delighted to meet these English Sheepdogs or this Dobberman (owned and trained by Kier Legaspi, yes, the actor 🙂 ).

My attention was taken by a German Shepherd named Hershey (I wasn’t able to take photo of her); I was fascinated that despite her disability (she was deaf acc to her human) she was so playful all the time.

The more I get to see these canines the more I wanted to pull in this week so we could finally visit our Bea.

Husband and I get a late night treat at Brothers Burger before going home. How can I resist not to miss our baby when all things around remind us of her.

This one is another favorite of her 😦 . I really can’t wait to see her again…